Louth Genealogy Tours

A view from the Mystical Cooley Mountains to Carlingford Lough

Finding the Correct Church

Having found the Townland we must now find not just the Civil Parish identified on your records but the correct Church. On your records you may see a Civil Parish this most likely is not the Church your Family used for Marriage/Baptisms and weekly use.

An Example

As an example take County Meath there are 146 Civil Parishes in County Meath. Your Families Church may be Culmullin it is bordered by 7 different Parishes but it is also in the Parish of Dunshaughlin. Your records may say Parish of Dunshaughlin but your Ancestors Parish and church they used for important events is actually 10 Miles away at Cullmullin. To Compound the issue there are 5 Baronies in Meath with the word Rath and 47 Townlands with the word Rath included.

Finding the correct Graveyard

Finding the correct Graveyard for your family for the Townland. Again an example a Parish like Dunshaughlin may have 10 Graveyards in Fact the Parish of Cullmullin above which is in the Civil Parish off Dunshaughlin has 3 Graveyards alone one for 1700 one for 1800s and a Modern graveyard.

Again this is our responsibility to find the Correct Graveyard for your Church and your families Townland.

Finding Relatives and Neighbours of your Family

At My Ireland Heritage our Data Base allows us to find the exact Location of your Families house in the 1800s. Once we travel her on your Behalf we will know very quickly if the family are still in the vicinity. In fact even if they are not we have the knowledge to know if the neighbors who may be there for 200 years are also still in the Vicinity.

Louth has 5 Baronies

Louth has 67 civil parishes

Louth has 43 Electoral Divisions

Louth has 655 Townlands

Louth has 11 Sub townlands

County Louth is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Border Region. The population of the county is 122,897 according to the most recent census. Louth is the smallest county in Ireland Cork being the largest the county is steeped in myth, legend and history, and is a setting in the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Later it saw the influence of the Vikings as seen in the name of Carlingford Lough. They also established a longphort at Annagassan in the ninth century. At this time Louth consisted of three sub-kingdoms each subject to separate over-kingdoms: Ulaidh, Airgialla, and, the Midhe. The whole area became part of the O’Carroll Kingdom of Airgialla (Oriel) early in the 12th century.

The Normans occupied the Louth area in the 1180s, and it became known as ‘English’ Oriel, to distinguish it from the remainder (‘Irish’ Oriel) which remained in Irish hands. The latter became the McMahon lordship of Oriel of Monaghan. The town of Drogheda being fortified by the Norman family De Lacy. (see our Historical County Meath Tour)

In the early 14th century, the Scottish army of Robert & Edward Bruce was repulsed from Drogheda. Edward was finally defeated, losing his claim to the High Kingship of Ireland along with his life, in the Battle of Faughart near Dundalk. Coincidently when the De Bruce campaign laid pillage to Kildare the area synonymize with St Bridget it was a known fact that Faugherd was St Bridgets Birth place.